Richard Gilder

Richard Gilder

"Since the early 1980s, stockbroker Richard Gilder has been honing his influence among Republicans on Capitol Hill. He has cheered Ronald Reagan's tax cuts, funded Newt Gingrich's revolution, twice backed Steve Forbes for president, and attacked moderates in the GOP for their lack of free-market fervor. His web of influence encompasses pundit Robert Novak, whose money he manages; the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank he once chaired; and George W. Bush, whom Gilder joined as an investor in the Texas Rangers. His current political agenda features three policy proposals -- privatizing Social Security, cutting federal income taxes, and providing public school vouchers -- all of which Bush adopted as campaign promises.

"During the last election cycle, Gilder gave Republicans $250,000 of his own money. But the donations represented just a fraction of the cash he marshals for supply-side politicians. In the mid-1980s Gilder founded the Political Club for Growth, a group of Wall Street conservatives who pooled their contributions to increase their influence. The more-visible Club for Growth, a political action committee modeled on the liberal Emily's List, was created in 1999. Last year, club members combined their contributions into million-dollar "bundles" for several candidates, several of whom later appeared at press events as the Club's "rising stars" in Congress." 


 * Trustee, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research
 * Donor, Free Africa Foundation
 * National Advisory Board, W.E.B. Du Bois Institute
 * Prize Advisor, Civil Courage Prize
 * National Endowment for the Humanities: National Humanities Medal (2005)
 * Trustee, American Museum of Natural History